1000km of river crossings, stunning camps & hidden waterfalls! NSW to QLD Dirt Roads ONLY

Sydney to Brisbane without touching the Pacific Highway. Graham Cahill drives the Barrington Tops, Tapin Tops and Carrai National Park to Mary's View lookout, a kilometre above the Macleay River. Graham Cahill points the Y62 Patrol north out of the Victoria Hotel at Moonan Flat with one rule: no black top between the two biggest cities in the country. First up is the Barrington Tops, Great Dividing Range high country topping 1,500m with a recorded low of minus seven, and so many aircraft down over the years that one old article nicknamed it the Devil's Triangle. There's even a hill named after a crash. Steph and Harley's Isuzu D-MAX starts overheating on the first climb of day one with a camper on the back, and that becomes the theme of the week. North of Gloucester the convoy drops off the road, crosses a cattle paddock and pulls up on the Manning River, where Blair puts Graham onto the one fish he's chased for years: an Australian bass. The 42cm that lands in the boat is not the one Graham wanted. Dinner is a three-flour batter, rice, tapioca and glutinous rice with soda water instead of beer, and chips started in cold oil, all cooked while the bugs mount an invasion. Day two runs gravel through Tapin Tops inland of Taree, through hail at 30 degrees, then down a track almost nobody uses to a waterhole Graham point blank refuses to name. The Hastings River and the Oxley Highway block the run at Wauchope, a closed road at sunset forces a 30-point turn and a night in a gravel pit, and the plan gets back on track at Kempsey, home of the Akubra hat and roughly the halfway mark. Up on the plateau at 1,000m sits Kookaburra, a sawmill town opened in 1946 where blokes dodging family maintenance would bolt into the scrub at the sight of a copper. Camp that night is the Daisy Plains Huts in Carrai National Park, where Harley builds an oven out of a foil tray and a couple of cans on a stove top. Last stop is Mary's View in Oxley Wild Rivers National Park, a near vertical kilometre down to the Macleay River. Gear that earned its keep: the new Raslarr hooped bar on the Y62, a Raptor respray on the bar work after six weeks of scrub, Clearview towing mirrors and the Jawa vans that unhook in 45 seconds when the track gets tight. This leg picks up from the Darling River run, with the Queensland border, some Second World War ruins in the strangest spot and a hidden crossing still to come. 🔧 The one thing you'd fit before towing a van over the Great Dividing Range: ____ 📍 The best swimming hole you've found completely by accident: ____ CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 1:07 Moonan Flat to the Barrington Tops 4:28 Barrington Tops plane crashes and lookouts 9:24 Fishing the Manning River 14:35 River camp and fish and chips 20:29 Gravel roads through Tapin Tops 22:08 Hidden waterfall swimming hole 25:44 Crossing the Oxley Highway at Wauchope 28:07 Closed road detour and gravel pit camp 30:35 Kookaburra ghost town 32:44 Daisy Plains Huts in Carrai National Park 41:18 Mary's View lookout -------------------------------------- Our Essential Trip Gear: -------------------------------------- Wine: https://www.offtrackwines.com.au/ Suspension: https://www.pedders.com.au/ Canopy/Tray: https://www.mitsalloy.com.au 4WD Roof Racks: https://rola.com.au/ Graham's bar work: https://www.raslarr.com.au/ 4WD Protective Paint: https://raptordiy.com.au/ Graham's UHF/Comms: https://uniden.com.au/ Recovery Boards: https://www.maxtrax.com.au/ 4WD Brake System: https://www.bendix.com.au/ Throttle Controllers: https://www.ultimate9.co/au/ Offroad Winches: https://www.runvawinch.com.au Towing Mirrors: https://www.clearviewaccessories.com.au/ Off-Road Camper Vans: https://www.jawacampers.com.au 📸 Instagram: @4wd247 📘 Facebook: @4wd247 🎵 TikTok: @4wd247 Shaun, Graham, Jock & Jesse — formerly with 4WD Action — have been delivering Australia's best off-road content for 20+ years. From epic builds and 4x4 tips to Fraser Island, The Kimberley, Colorado and the Simpson Desert. Whether you're in a fully built LandCruiser or just starting out with a HiLux or Ranger — we've got you covered. #BarringtonTops #TapinTops #CarraiNationalPark #OxleyWildRivers #MacleayRiver #ManningRiver #Kookaburra #DaisyPlains #Wauchope #Kempsey #Gloucester #NSW #4WD #Camping #Fishing #Touring #Overlanding #Offgrid #4wd247 #OFFGRID23EP9